1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a peripheral apparatus control system, a peripheral apparatus, an information processing apparatus, a peripheral apparatus control method, and a program.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a peripheral apparatus control system has been effectively utilized in various environments, such as a user's home or offices. In a peripheral apparatus control system like this, a peripheral apparatus is connected to an information processing apparatus via various interfaces, such as universal serial bus (USB), Ethernet®, or a wireless local area network (LAN).
As an example of a peripheral apparatus, a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile apparatus, a scanner, and digital camera, or a combination of the above-described functions can be used. If a printer is used as an example of a peripheral apparatus, the following two types of printers are generally used in a network printing system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses shares a printer.
One type is a printer that includes a mass storage device for storing print jobs. If this type of printer is used, a user executes a print job from the printer. Another type is a printer that manages the order of transmission of print jobs from the information processing apparatus. If this type of printer is used, the information processing apparatus transmits a print job when necessary.
In the description above, a printer is used as the peripheral apparatus. However, a print server can also implement the above-described function. If a network print system including a print server is used, it becomes unnecessary to provide the printer with a mass storage device for storing a plurality of print jobs. Various types of the above-described network printing system have been conventionally provided.
More specifically, in a method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 02-146618, a printer accepts a print reservation from an information processing apparatus. In addition, the printer manages the order of receiving print reservations. Furthermore, the information processing apparatus inputs print requests according to the print reservation order.
In other words, the printer receives a print request from the information processing apparatus as the reservation before completing currently executed print processing. In addition, the printer assigns a reservation order number to each print request according to the order of receiving the print requests. Furthermore, the printer updates the reservation order every time one print processing is completed. Moreover, the printer requests print data to an information processing apparatus whose print request is to be processed next. In addition, the printer receives the print data and prints the received print data.
In the printing system discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 02-146618, it is necessary to provide the printer with a function for giving a request for print data to the information processing apparatus. Accordingly, costs of manufacture may increase.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-181843 discusses the following method. In this conventional method, it is not necessary for the printing system to provide a printer with a function for giving requests for print data to the information processing apparatus. More specifically, in the latter conventional method, the information processing apparatus inputs a print request requesting processing of a print job.
In this conventional method, the printer registers an identifier of the received print request in a waiting list. Furthermore, the printer manages execution of print jobs according to the print request by using the waiting list. In addition, the printer determines an interval of giving a print request according to the print request priority order stored in the waiting list at the time of reception of the print requests. Furthermore, control of request input processing is performed so that the print requests are input at the interval determined in the above-described manner.
Meanwhile, in recent years, a network printing system, which includes a plurality of information processing apparatuses that shares a printer, has been standardized. More specifically, a network printing system that utilizes a Print Service by device profile for web service (WSD), which will be described in detail later below in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, has been marketed. In the network printing system that utilizes the WSD Print Service, an operating system (OS) issues an operation CreatePrintJobRequest to a printer as a print request for processing of a print job.
If the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-181843 is applied to the network printing system that utilizes the WSD Print Service, the CreatePrintJobRequest operation, which is a print request for processing of a print job, is utilized. In this case, it becomes necessary to add an identifier, which is one of the characteristics of the method discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-181843, to CreatePrintJobRequest.
However, because the CreatePrintJobRequest operation is issued by the OS, a printer driver (or the OS, according to an instruction from the printer driver) cannot add the identifier to the operation. Accordingly, the network printing system discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-181843 cannot be applied to the network printing system that utilizes the WSD Print Service.